Matt, Emily, and Baby Sage

Mommy's First Meltdown

Posted by Emily , Friday, February 15, 2013 7:00 AM

On our first outing as a family after leaving the hospital, we went to the pediatrician for Sage's first well-baby checkup.  They weighed her, measured her, poked and prodded her.  I should have taken pictures but I was in such an overwhelmed state that I didn't bring the camera.  She had lost weight of course but everything about her was healthy except for one thing.  All babies are checked for something call "hip click," and Sage has it.  It's real name is hip dysplasia, and you can read about it here.

We were sent directly across the street to meet with a pediatric orthopedic doctor, who fitted Sage with a Pavlik Harness.  I bawled.  I totally lost it.  She was screaming while they put this contraption on her and she just looked so pathetic.  Not proud of myself, but hey, I was hormonal.

Sage in all her harnessed glory

It holds her legs at a ninety-degree angle to help her hip socket grow properly.  We have to be careful not to pull on her legs when changing her diaper or push her legs together. We aren't supposed to take it off except to wash it or bathe her, though I sometimes remove it for a photo shoot here and there.  I know it may sound stupid, bu I just don't want ALL of our memories covered up with straps and Velcro.

In reality, the harness does not bother her at all and we are lucky that they caught her condition this early so that we can fix it now and she won't have problems down the road (hopefully).  The doctor said she would probably have to wear the harness for about 8 weeks.  We are on week 5 right now and have a checkup on Monday to see how things are going.  It does make changing diapers a pain, and we are very limited in what clothing she can wear, but if it's that or have her go through pain and surgery later in life, I'll take it. 

It is a little sad, and hard to put her back in the harness, when she curls up like this:

Sweet, sweet baby.